Academic Skills

Course Objectives

The aim of this course is to introduce and give practice in some of the academic skills required for postgraduate study at a British university. In conjunction with developing academic skills, the course aims to improve participants’ command of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), with the latter part of the course focusing specifically on academic writing at postgraduate level. A related course aim is to introduce and develop the academic skills which will be applied in an authentic context when completing the Guided Research Project in the second semester. Academic Skills is mandatory for all Pre-Masters students in their first semester and will be assessed by coursework and examination.

Key Learning Outcomes

Eight key learning outcomes are specified for course participants, who are expected:

1.To have an understanding of the study methods deployed at postgraduate level in the UK

2.To have increased their range of academic lexis, and to have an understanding of academic registers and the use of formal, impersonal language in academic writing

3.To be able to take notes, using clear structuring, note-form and abbreviations

4.To be able to avoid plagiarism through paraphrasing, quotation, and citation

5.To be able to write summaries selecting appropriate information from source material and using paraphrasing skills

6.To be able to write detailed outlines and construct essays with logical and coherent argumentation

7.To have developed data commentary skills used in reporting research results

8.To have a detailed understanding of the typical components of research papers and be able to use appropriate English language constructions

Course Structure

The first part of the course will introduce students to study methods used in the UK at postgraduate level. The second will develop note-taking and summary writing skills and will also focus on avoiding plagiarism by paraphrasing, quotation and citation. The third part will develop essay writing skills, especially structuring, argumentation and coherency, and will provide practice in writing detailed outlines. The fourth part will examine the register and style of academic writing at postgraduate level, before proceeding to a detailed analysis of the typical components of a research paper and their linguistic features. Throughout the course students will be given vocabulary exercises to increase their academic vocabulary.

Introduction: Study Methods

Study Methods in the UK

• Studying in English
• The Transition from Undergraduate to Postgraduate Studies
• International Students and Culture Shock

Note-taking, Avoiding Plagiarism and Summary Writing

• Using Note-form
• English, Latin and Symbol Abbreviations
• What Plagiarism Is and Why it is Seen as Being Wrong
• Opening a Summary (Attribution and Highlighting Statement)
• Reporting Verbs
• Using Paraphrasing in Summaries

Essay Writing and Detailed Outlines

• Paragraph Organization: Topic Sentences and Supporting Detail
• Paragraph Coherence: Transition Signals and Logical Order
• Essay Structure
• Writing Thesis Statements
• Transition Signals between Paragraphs
• Outlining
• Writing Detailed Outlines
• Argument, Logic and Coherence: Writing Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis or ‘Discuss’ type essays

Postgraduate Writing and Research Papers

• Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Considering Audience
• Academic Registers: Vocabulary, Formal Grammar and Style
• Writing Up an Introduction: Creating a ‘Research Space’ (Swales & Feak, 1994)

Assessment and Minimum Standards

Assessment of the course will be based on the final marks of two pieces of coursework, and a two hour final exam. The weighting for each part of the course assessment will be: Coursework, 10%, Coursework 2, 20%, and Final Exam 70%. The final mark awarded will be out of 100%. The coursework and exam will assess minimum standards for various academic skills that students will be expected to have developed by the end of the course. The minimum pass mark for the course is 40%.

On completion of the course students will be expected to have acquired the following academic and EAP competencies:

• The ability to take notes from an article
• The ability to write a summary
• The ability to write a detailed outline for a thesis-antithesis-synthesis type of essay
• The ability to use academic lexis presented throughout the course appropriately and accurately
• The ability to write a data commentary as used when reporting data in a Results section
• An understanding of the typical components in research papers, their functions, and the English grammar used when writing up the various parts of a research paper

Books Recommended for the Course

Bailey, S., (2006). Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (2nd Edition)m Abingdon: Routledge

Jordan, R. R. (1999) Academic Writing Course (3rd Ed) Harlow Longman

Oshima, & Hogue., (1999), Writing Academic English, (3rd Ed), New York: Longman.

Porter, D., (2003), Check your Vocabulary for Academic English, (2nd Ed), London: Bloomsbury.